Free National Park entry April 19 and 20
Posted on 04/15/2014, 5:45 PM
The National Park Service and its supporting charity, the National Park Foundation, are once again throwing the gates open to the United States' national parks. The weekend of April 19 and 20 will see fees waived across the country. Some particularly timely national park units to visit are the ones that are marking the 150th anniversary of Civil War battles this year, including Petersburg in...
Hot Type to Go: Is the Print Travel Magazine Dying? Two Editors See Open Horizons
Posted on 04/10/2014, 3:15 PM
The future of the physical, non-virtual travel magazine is on travelers’ talking lists lately. The recent shake-ups at Condé Nast Traveler and its subsequent high profile relaunch has spurred debate—is the travel magazine in its old school glossy, print format dead? The Editors of Delta Sky and Afar magazines don’t think so. Not by a long shot. Last week, Delta’s in-flight Sky magaz...
A Tip on Digital Safety for Travelers: Always Look for the "S" in http. Here's Why
Posted on 04/09/2014, 8:00 AM
Identity theft is a growing problem, especially for travelers. That’s because criminals tend to congregate in hotel lobbies, cafes and other areas with free wifi, because they know that folks who are on the road are more likely to use these unsecure networks and may expose their passwords, and other vital personal information, to digital snoopers. So try and avoid using banking, social network,...
Game On: As the HBO Series Returns, Travelers are Being Lured to Game of Thrones Destinations
Posted on 04/07/2014, 12:45 PM
They’re back. Jaime Lannister and his twisted sister Cersei, Tyrion the wise, Joffrey the awful, the Mother of Dragons and the whole crew (minus some key family members that were taken out last season) are back in the addictive HBO fantasy drama that is filmed in real-life fairy tale-like locations. Tourism Ireland has an entire webpage dedicated to doing Game of Thrones locations in Nort...
Divergent’s Wrecked Version of the Windy City Lures “Set-Jetters” To Chicago
Posted on 04/03/2014, 2:45 PM
Chicago has always been an iconic city in American movies. From ‘30s gangster films to John Hughes’ feel good teen flicks like Home Alone and Risky Business in the 1980s, Chicago has loomed large in our collective movie-going consciousness since films began. The newest movie to frame Chicago’s status as the quintessential American town is Divergent--the new future imperfect film of Ver...
Power Outlets Coming to An Airport Near You Thanks to a New Initiative From United Airlines
Posted on 03/31/2014, 9:45 AM
The hunt for power outlets at the airport is about to get easier, at least for the passengers of United Airlines (the second largest carrier in the US). Last week it announced that it would be adding 500 new charging stations to its gates in major hubs across the United States. The Chicago stations should be up and running by now (each of which contains 6 outlets and 2 USB ports). In the com...
Now AT&T Will Warn You Before You Go Over Your International Limit
Posted on 03/17/2014, 4:00 PM
A screenshot from the AT&T International Travel App It only took more than a decade. AT&T has finally issued a tool to help customers know when they are in danger of exceeding their international usage and incurring wildly inflated fees. Many a traveler has risked financial ruin by turning on their phone in a foreign country, where per-minute calling rates and data usage rates a...
Will Gas Prices Fall Tomorrow? New App Predicts Costs
Posted on 03/12/2014, 5:15 PM
The car insurance powerhouse Esurance has found another way to reach potential customers: Develop an easy-to-use app that gets its brand name in front of drivers' faces every day. How can you do that? By tying its brand name to the search for good gas prices. Esurance's free app Fuelcaster, new this winter, sucks up data from the long-established gas price finder GasBuddy.com and digests i...
Free Amtrak Train Travel for Writers Through New Program
Posted on 02/24/2014, 10:00 AM
Last year, Canada's Via Rail kicked off a program to grant free trips to singers and musicians in exchange for on-board performances. Now America's rail system, Amtrak, has started granting on-board residencies to writers who want to create work during long-distance trips. So far, the idea is happening loosely. There's no way yet to fill out an application form, per se. Instead, writers are t...
Take the Rickshaw Run Across India With YouTube Heartthrobs the Harries Twins
Posted on 02/03/2014, 6:00 PM
Two of the Internet's biggest stars are the button-cute brothers Jack and Finn Harries. If you have never heard of them, there's a simple explanation: You're probably too old. But the Harries Twins are two of the most beloved personalities on YouTube, which these days can dwarf television in viewership. Nearly every video they upload to their channel, JacksGap, earns well over 1 million view...
